Philosophy in the Bedroom

Philosophy in the Bedroom (La philosophie dans le boudoir) was written in 1795 by the Marquis de Sade, while imprisoned in the Bastille. It is a work of extreme pornography, laced with socio-political suversion. The main characters are libertines, who decided to give a young maiden their own brand of sex education. They explain to her that pleasure is the most important goal of all, and then proceed with affirming that she will not be able to feel "true pleasure" without pain. Then they get down to the practical lessons. This book is full of extremely graphic and shocking descriptions, willfully obscene and violent to the reader; it is also an argument in favour of libertinism, with a demonstration on how it is the only way of thinking reinforcing the recent French Revolution, and that if it fails to penetrate the people of France, they are in grave danger of returning to a monarchic state.